Bricks and Mortar
by MissNMikaelson
Summary: There was a wall around the switch, a wall that kept losing tiny bits with every little act.
1. Chapter 1

**I do not own TVD or TO.**

**This is going to be two chapters long. The next chapter will be up shortly.**

* * *

If she were capable of emotions she would cry. She would cry for her parents and her brother. She could cry for the people she had loved and lost, for the ones she had loved and never had. She would cry for her own lost innocence, and all of the things she could never get back.

If she were capable of emotions she would scream. She would scream at the witch who started it all. She would scream at her companions, at herself. She would scream at him and the unfairness of the world.

If she were capable of emotions she would be afraid. She would be fear the encroaching past and the unending future. She would fear the stainless steel in his hand; fear for her life.

If she were capable of emotion… but emotion laid beyond her reach.

She was incapable of emotion because of him. She was incapable of emotion because she showed too much of it. She was incapable of emotion because – once more – he abused the sire bond to circumvent her grief.

She would be angry if she could; the fact of the matter was certain. She would feel so much rage that she would never speak to him again.

She thought she might not speak to him anyway. Eternity without the Salvatores sounded more than appealing, and it would be an eternity because without her emotions she has the one thing everyone always said she lacked.

She finally has a sense of self-preservation. The only thing that mattered now was keeping herself alive and her past at bay, sealed behind a brick wall.

Damon and Stefan were certain the girl they loved still resided inside her, hidden behind a wall in her mind, but she knew the truth; she knew that girl was gone. The girl they had loved was nothing more than a construct and she had been gone for a long time. If she ever existed at all she was dead now; resting in a watery grave.

He had said she couldn't blame them for having hope, and he had been right. In order to place blame on anyone she would have to feel anger, and thanks to Damon that was impossible.

Besides, she could see their hope slipping away with every cut. Each knife they embedded in her skin severed another of her puppet strings.

Their hope was growing tenuous, and it was only the finest of fibres that tied them together. She needed to leave before the last of the tethers snapped. She needed to leave before they succeeded in doing what they always did and took things too far.

She knew what would make them stop, but that option was not on the table. The tiny switch in the back of her mind would remain in its current position because if she let even one emotion in the bricks would crumble. Everything would rush back. The barrage would be overwhelming. She can't deal with the grief and the guilt anymore, she won't.

"Is that all you've got?" She drawled. Blood dripped from her mouth onto the handle of the blade protruding from between her ribs. The knife sliced through her heart, shredding the muscles, with each weak heartbeat.

"Turn it on and I'll stop," Damon yanked the blade free.

"Ya know," she sighed, licking her lips, "I should be surprised at you…" she spat a stream of blood from her mouth, "… but I'm not. Your first instinct has always been violence."

He lodged the blade in her thigh.

A scream ripped through her throat. The knife severed her femoral artery. She stared, fascinated, at the blood pouring from the wound; they have spent so long torturing her that her body doesn't possess enough blood for the injury to spurt as it should, so she stared as it poured out to slowly drip onto the floor. The bright red liquid soaked into the dirt where Elijah had once lain; she doubted he would have resorted to the Salvatore's tactics.

"We tried appealing to your better nature," Damon crouched in front of her. His voice reached her through a long tunnel, drawing her attention from the floor. "We tried reasoning with you."

"Oh, spare me," she scoffed, shaking her head. "That little stunt at the prom reeked of Stefan, but you…" She looked around at the dirty cell and grinned. The look was completely feral. "You've been wanting to tie me up for a while now… overpower me… establish dominance…"

He took another knife, driving it through her stomach. Her body mourned for the lost blood, but her eyes fixed him in a calculating glance.

"Was it Katherine?" She cocked an eyebrow. "Are you projecting your rage onto me?" She leaned forward as far as she could. "She used you and moved on, so just get over it already because this whole Katherine 2.0 thing is getting old."

He broke a piece of wood off her chair betraying the nerve she struck. That worked just fine for her as the wood he broke was from the arm.

She slipped her wrist out of the vervain soaked ropes.

Adrenaline roared through her veins gifting her with the speed needed to grasp his chin and force his head to the left. His neck twisted with a sickening crunch.

He fell onto her legs and she shoved him away.

Gritting her teeth she tore the knife from her stomach and used it to cut away the rest of her bonds. She yanked the second knife from her thigh and dropped to her knees.

She strained to flip Damon onto his back and straddled his thighs. Her hands patted him down, searching every pocket. Her energy faded as the blood-loss and starvation caught up.

Her search proved fruitless and she couldn't help but release an annoyed huff.

She took a deep breath and lowered her eyes, spotting his daylight ring. It wouldn't work for her, but she took it anyway and stood up, tucking the ring into her pocket.

She stumbled from the room, making sure to lock the cell behind her and moved deeper into the basement. The cellar was easy enough to find, but that was as far as her luck extended because the blood cooler was empty.

She sighed, flexed her exhausted muscles and flashed through the house, doing her level best to avoid the setting sun where it streamed through the windows.

She would have smirked at how easy locating her ring was if she weren't so hungry. Damon thought he was so clever – hiding it amongst her necklaces – but he was being predictable by using his 'moonstone in the soap dish' mentality.

She slipped her ring on her finger and dropped Damon's in the sink; it swirled around making a tinkling sound before sliding into the drain.

A smirk lifted the corner of her mouth. She hurried back into the bedroom and changed into a pair of sweats at the top of her suitcase before racing out into the coming night in search of sustenance before Stefan could return.

She found the road easily enough, or rather it found her. She had barely stepped out when she was clipped by a large blue truck. She registered the concrete as her body hit it with a jarring thump.

She pushed herself up onto her hands as the vehicle came to a stop and the driver jumped out. The rich smell of his blood reached her; she heard it rush through his veins.

Her fangs elongated as her mouth watered. She caught a glimpse of blue on his hand a split second before his features came into focus.

"Elena?" His eyes widened.

She jumped to her feet, slipped the ring that didn't belong to him from his finger and buried her teeth in his throat, all before he could blink.

The blood exploded over her tongue, flooding her mouth; tainted with vervain as it was his blood was still the best thing she had ever tasted and it took all of her will power not moan; though she wasn't sure if she managed it. She had every intention of draining the euphoric substance from her ex-boyfriend's body, but before she could large hands twisted her neck.

She dropped in a heap onto the pavement.

"Okay, Mattie," Damon rolled his eyes, "next time we tell you we've been starving Elena what do you not do?"

"I didn't know it was her," Matt muttered, pressing his hand to his bleeding neck. He dropped his eyes to the wet patches on Elena's clothes; he recognized the look of blood when he saw it. "What have you been doing?"

The wind whistled through the trees, masking the sound of crunching foliage.

"Hunger wasn't working," Damon shrugged, "so we moved on to fear."

"You've been torturing her," Matt's eyes widened, his voice emerged in a horrified breath.

"She knows what she has to do to make it stop," he snapped, bending to pick her up. "Now if you'll excuse me this sleeping beauty has a date with the sun."

"I think not."

The elegant voice, smooth as silk, made Damon stiffen. He turned with Elena in his arms to glare at the previously empty space.

Dark eyes cut to the woman in Damon's arms. The strong jaw ticked before his lips lifted in a dangerous smirk.

"There are two ways this can proceed," he stepped closer, unbuttoning his jacket, "the easy way in which you give her to me and we go our separate directions, or we can do this the hard way."

Matt swallowed, glancing at Damon's stiff shoulders. He knew 'hard' translated to 'violent', and that Damon was foolish enough to choose it.

"She's not going anywhere with you," Damon dropped Elena in the back of Matt's truck and turned to back around.

He moved too quickly to be seen and plunged his hand through Damon's chest. Matt moved back as he squeezed Damon's heart.

"I believe you have that backwards," malice glittered in his eyes, "Elena is not going anywhere with you."

He glanced at the brunette, dropped with little regard to her well-being; she looked as though she could be sleeping, but he knew better.

He made a few quick, decisive, movements and Damon dropped with his heart still in his chest.

"You didn't kill him?" Matt cleared his throat, glancing down at Damon.

"No; she once called him friend and for that he may keep his life." He stepped around Matt and slipped the large ring from her thumb. He held it out, frowning when Matt shook his head.

"It might help her."

"How so?"

Matt eyed the ring before looking to Elena, serene in her temporary death. His voice was quiet when he spoke again, calm.

"It was Jeremy's."

"Very well," he pocketed the ring. He slipped his right arm beneath her knees and his left behind her shoulders lifting Elena from the back of the truck. His eyes found Matt. "Are you going to get in my way?"

"I called you, remember?" Matt crossed his arms. He rolled his eyes at the pointed look. "One of you anyway."

"Because we're all the same to you?" He smirked.

"No, but this is better," Matt shrugged.

"Why?"

"Because for whatever reason you've always tried to help her," he held out his hand before an explanation could be given. "I don't care why; all I know is that you won't manipulate her with some stupid plan to make her kill one her friends. You've always helped her, so please help her now."

"That is not a request you need to make, Mr. Donovan." He turned his gaze to the woman in his arms. His muscle tightened, ready for whatever might come. The promise he makes is for her ears, whether she can hear him or not. "I will do all I can to ensure her safety," he met Matt's eyes for a moment before looking back to Elena. "You have my word."

* * *

How long had they been torturing her, starving her?

She was young, an infant by vampire standards, and as a result her healing was not as fast as her friends, but even a baby vampire recovered from a broken neck within a few hours; she had been 'dead' on his front seat for nearly eleven.

Her body lacked the needed blood, and what little she had bore the remnants of vervain.

The last time he had seen her was two weeks before when she had emerged from the mansion in her stolen prom dress wearing an indifferent expression. He suspected the only reason she had gone to the insipid dance was Rebekah because he had insisted that his sister prove she could behave as a human and Rebekah had wanted a witness to her actions. Like his sister, he had assumed Elena had left Mystic Falls in a cloud of dust; perhaps that was why Rebekah had chosen to call him.

_Two weeks,_ he flexed his fingers, glaring at the road. His pulse pounded in his ears. He should have never left her in Willoughby, and that he should have gone after her sooner. He should have known that something was wrong.

Her heart stuttered to life.

He released a breath he hadn't realized he had been holding since Georgia. He took one hand off the steering wheel, reached into the back seat and retrieved a blood bag from the cooler; he placed it on her lap and took the wheel again.

He watched her from the corner of his eyes, listening as her bones snapped back in place. The excruciating process lasted for ten minutes before she finally sat up with a gasp.

* * *

Her neck was broken – healing, but broken – leaving her paralyzed from the neck down. She figured she would be lying still or chained up to something, but her body vibrated; the movement thrummed through her healing body.

She jerked, blinked, swallowed. Her throat burned. Her body longed for sustenance to heal. After her lengthy imprisonment her senses were dull, so it takes her a few minutes to make sense of her immediate surroundings and her new companion.

"Elijah?" She blinked, as if that would disperse the mirage in the driver's seat. She was dreaming; she had to be dreaming, but if she wasn't then she was hallucinating. It wouldn't be the first time since her torture began.

"Elena," he glanced at her. His intention was for a quick nod, but once he met her fevered eyes he found himself unable to look away. Her gaze had once held nothing but compassion – a compassion that had led her to save the lives of those she despised.

She saw something flash in his eyes, and the look was so intense that she had to look away before she did something stupid like jump out of the speeding car or flip that little switch that seems closer to the surface than it has in months.

"You should eat."

His voice sounded thick to her ears.

Her eyes fell to the bag in her lap, narrowing at the thick red fluid. She had been handed blood many times over the last few weeks.

Elijah saw her glaring at the bag as if she expected it to turn into a snake and bite her.

"It's not poisoned."

"Why should I believe that?" Her head swam with hunger. She couldn't stop herself from poking at the bag; it was a childish impulse that she couldn't be bothered to curb. The blood bag jiggled like a bowl of jelly; she wondered if blood Jell-O was possible.

Elijah's calm voice drew her back to the present.

"Why would I poison you? For what reason would I continue this perverse torture you've endured?"

Her response came without hesitation because he had always stood for one thing and one thing alone: family above all.

"I killed Kol."

"Your brother killed mine," he stared out the windshield, afraid to look at her and risk running off the road. "I cannot hold you fully responsible for any decisions you made under the influence of a sire bond." He smirked, turning a few inches to finally look at her. "If I wanted to kill you I would have done it in Willoughby."

If she were capable of emotions – and if she had blood in her system – she would have blushed. She would have blushed at the memory of their last meeting. She would have blushed because she could still feel his fingers in her hair and his tongue in her mouth. She would have blushed for the fantasy she had dreamt of when he didn't realize who she was because that kiss had been full of promise. She wondered if there was any possibility of her imagined scenario, but quickly shook away the thought; he was too noble, too honorable, to settle for a woman he doesn't truly want.

Every lover she had ever had knew Katherine first; that used to give her such a complex, but now it didn't matter.

She glared at the bag for another quarter mile before she allowed her shaking fingers to unwrap the plastic tubes. The liquid rose slowly to hit her tongue. Her muscles tensed, fighting the urge to sink her teeth into the bag and make a true mess of Elijah's car because despite being starved for weeks on end she was not a wild animal.

The blood was gone too soon.

He glanced over, chuckling at the glare that had turned into an adorable pout. He barely got out the words before she twisted around and reached into the back seat for the cooler.

Twenty minutes of silence and six bags later he took a ramp to change highways.

"Are you feeling any better?"

She sipped the last of the blood and licked her lips. "I prefer 98.6," she sucked in a deep breath. Since she had flipped the switch she had buried the manners her mother had instilled in her at a young age, but in that moment she didn't bother to try. "Thank you."

Elena knew he was wondering if her response came from true gratitude or if the words were habit; she wondered too. Something warm bloomed in her chest.

"Why did you kidnap me?"

"I prefer the term 'liberate' over 'kidnap'," he smirked, passing a slow driver, "however if you are set on the negative outlook then the proper term is 'abduct' as you are over eighteen."

"Elijah," she sighed.

"I couldn't leave you behind once I knew what they were doing," he admitted.

She bypassed the question of how he found out. "Liberate, huh, does that mean I'm free to go?" She turned to face him, arching an eyebrow.

"You may leave at any time – although I would recommend waiting until the car comes to a complete stop…" Elena rolled her eyes. "Or you could stay."

She knew that if she left it was only a matter of time until the Salvatores came looking, and a life on the run was no life at all. She had no desire to spend her eternity looking over her shoulder.

"They know you've taken me?" She didn't need to clarify who.

"Yes," he nodded, "I took you directly from Damon. You know as well as I do that they'll be on your trail soon enough."

"With Bonnie's help it'll be sooner rather than later," she turned her eyes to the road. There was more than enough stuff left behind for a locator spell.

Miles of highway stretched ahead of her. She watched it pass by and made her decision in a split second.

"Where are we going?"

She heard the surprised skip of his heart, but his voice came out level and strong.

"New Orleans," he nodded to the Louisiana line. "There is a witch in the city conspiring against Niklaus."

"Ah-ha," she clicks her tongue, "so it's big brother to the rescue."

"Yes," he gave her a wry smirk, "that is my role."

* * *

She leaned against the stone wall and stared out over the busy streets, counting no fewer than fifteen vampires amongst the humans.

"I thought New York was the city that never slept," she remarked, twisting her wrist around to make note of the hour. The watch was old, but everything else was new; curtesy of Elijah.

"New Orleans is home to a different form of nightlife," he chuckled.

She watched his eyes flit over the street in search of his brother or the witch had had been told about. Klaus would be easier since neither of them knew what the Devereux woman looked like. She could easily have been the woman three feet in front of them, or the leader of the tour group; the caramel skinned goddess had certainly caught Elijah's attention.

She felt a prickle at the back of her scalp.

"Old friend?" She nodded to the woman's lemon yellow top.

He blinked as if coming from a daze and turned his full attention to Elena while shaking his head.

"I've never seen her before in my life," he frowned, glancing back, "but there is something familiar about her…"

An annoyed voice rises from the alley behind Rousseau's. She nodded in that direction when she heard the name being bandied about; counting to three she followed Elijah into the alley.

By the time her feet tough down there was a vampire staked halfway up the wall, another missing his head and a heart in the middle of the cracked pavement. In the midst of the horror stood Elijah, adjusting his cuffs as if nothing had happened, as if he hadn't just ended the lives of three vampires threatening his witch contact.

There was something undeniably attractive in his cocky smirk he flashed at Sophie Devereux, and somehow she knew that this was the Elijah that taunted faceless assailants and who fears nothing; she supposed that made sense since Klaus had the only weapon in the world that could have killed him.

"I'm Elijah," the shadows played over his features, "you've heard of me?" He advanced when Sophie nodded frantically. He nodded over her shoulder in turn. "This is Elena; now why don't you tell us what business your family has with my brother?"

* * *

**What do you think? I've always wondered what Elijah would have done had he known what the Salvatores were doing to Elena.**


	2. Chapter 2

**I do not own TVD or TO. Here is part 2. It does leave it open at the end, but I'm happy with how I ended it.**

* * *

Her first thought was that the witches were crazy. Her second thought was that the werewolf girl hadn't been outside in a long time. Her third thought was that the witches clearly had a death wish… that or they were stupid.

Anyone who threatened an Original when they knew exactly what an Original was had to be stupid, or a Salvatore. Although, now that she was thinking about it, the Salvatores weren't that brightest.

She wasn't sure if she truly believed the witches, but when Elijah had asked her to keep an eye on her she agreed and told herself it was because she had nothing better to do. It had nothing to do with the fact that Elijah was the one who had asked her for a favor; she didn't owe him anything just because he saved her from the Salvatores.

She was bored – that was all – so she might as well kill time in the crypt while thinking through her next moves and what she would do for the next few decades, but the only thing she could think about was the fluttering heartbeat and cobwebs setting up shop in her useless womb.

"You don't believe them?" Hayley crossed her legs on the bench. Her eyes caught Elena's when she looked up and shrugged one shoulder.

"Do you?" She countered. "There's definitely a baby in there."

Hayley bit her bottom lip and flattened her palm over her stomach.

"I don't know about their logic," she stared down at her flat mid-section, "but I know it's true. I haven't been with anyone else."

"You'd better hope Klaus believes that."

Elena crossed her arms and leaned against the wall beside Hayley. She could hear the hushed voices of the witches in the crypt's adjoining room.

"They want his help, but blackmail only works if he believes and cares," she dragged her eyes over the flickering candles.

"They've been holding me captive for a week so they could perform a bunch of witchy tests out in the Bayou," Hayley snapped, eyes narrowing. "Don't you think I would have fessed up if I'd been with someone else?"

Elena held out her hands in a gesture of mock defense, but otherwise maintained her bored stance.

"You don't need to get defensive with me Hayley, I believe you."

"But you're judging me."

"A little," Elena shrugged, "but that's more to do with your choice of baby daddy."

"So it's the raging psychopath that offends you?"

"I'd have to care to be offended," she drawled. "I'm just trying to understand how you landed in this predicament."

Hayley uncrossed her legs and leaned forward on the bench, staring at her knees.

"A bottle of scotch and a handful of bad decisions," she scoffed.

"So the usual unplanned conception," Elena smirked. Her comment drew a short laugh from Hayley.

"I guess so," she nodded.

Elena's enhanced hearing meant that she was the first to hear the returning steps of Elijah and a gait that once made her heart pound with fear.

She straightened up and adjusted her leather jacket, brushing some dust from her shoulder. She held out her hand, gesturing to the other room.

"He's here."

There was one constant about Elijah and that was that he didn't beat around the bush, not where family was concerned. She could have easily predicted the reaction of Klaus had she tried; less than five minutes after she and Hayley had stepped into the crypt's side room.

"You've been with someone else, admit it!"

Elena's eyes narrowed when Klaus advanced on Hayley, screaming in her face. She clenched her upper arms and dug her heels into the stone, resisting the old urge to stand in front of someone in trouble; Hayley didn't require her assistance and she didn't care enough to give it.

"Hey," Hayley squared her shoulders, rage dripped from her tongue along with exhaustion. "I've been held captive in a freaking alligator bayou because they think I'm carrying some magical miracle baby," she gestured wildly with her hands. "Don't you think I would've fessed up if it wasn't yours?"

Sophie cleared her throat and stepped closer to the bickering couple. Three vampires and a werewolf turned to stare at her.

"My sister gave her life to perform the spell she needed to confirm this pregnancy. Because of Jane-Anne's sacrifice, the lives of this girl and her baby are now controlled by us."

Elena's spine stiffened. She tilted her head a fraction of an inch and stared at the witch.

"We can keep them safe, or we can kill them." Sophie's eyes narrowed. She took a pin from her pocket and stuck her own palm causing Hayley to yelp. "I control her fate, and so help me if you don't help us take down Marcel, Hayley won't live long enough to see her first maternity dress."

"Wait, what?" Hayley held her palm.

"Enough," Elijah snapped. "If you want Marcel dead, he's dead; I'll do it myself."

"No," Sophie shook her head. "We can't, not yet. We have a clear plan that we need to follow, and there are rules."

Elena saw Elijah's attention turn to Klaus awaiting his reaction, as she counted the witches in the crypt, witches who, according to the rules of the city, couldn't practice magic. She couldn't concentrate however because Klaus' voice moved from a deadly whisper to an enraged growl.

"How dare you command me, _threaten me, _with what you wrongfully perceive to be my weaknesses." He pointed to Hayley. "This is a pathetic deception. I won't hear anymore lies."

Klaus spun and began to storm out when Elijah's voice rose, laced with the authority of the elder brother he rarely invoked.

"Niklaus…" his voice dropped when his brother froze. "Listen."

His angry eyes darted to Hayley and down to the hand she pressed to her stomach, for a moment there was nothing to betray he had heard it, but then Elena saw it; a shifting behind his eyes, a slight parting of his lips, a look of longing that was gone before it could truly settle.

He turned his eyes to his brother and then the witches, muttering loud enough for the entire crypt to hear.

"Kill her and the baby. What do I care?" With a swift turn he was gone.

"Well," Elena hummed, "he took that better than I thought he would." She pulled a tissue from her pocket and held it out to Hayley.

Hayley's eyes flickered from one witch to the next. She had the strong feeling that if she tried to leave she would be stopped, and potentially killed by Sophie. She turned to test her theory and found her path blocked.

"Nobody touches her," Elijah twisted to face Sophie.

"Klaus clearly doesn't care, but it's pretty obvious that you do," Sophie crossed her arms, confident in the knowledge that she at least was safe from his wrath.

Elena heard the amusement in his voice; it was a deadly sound. "You would dare threaten an Original?"

"I've got nothing to lose," Sophie met his eyes. The grin slid from Elijah's face. "You've got until midnight to get him to change his mind."

* * *

Elena paced the length of the crypt, circling the witches with a curious light dancing in her eyes. Every now and then she would tilt her head to the side and listen in on the tense conversation between the witches that only grew tighter as time ticked away.

"He clearly doesn't care that much," the elder witch whispered. "He left a vampire without emotions to keep an eye on her. Everyone knows you can't trust them."

"I'll have you know I'm very trustworthy," a slow smile spread over her lips. "I must admit I'm curious. Why bring in more vampires to deal with your overabundance of vampires?"

"Marcel and his vampires are out of control," Sophie crossed her arms. "We had to do something."

"But you brought in more vampires," Elena's nose wrinkled.

"They're not just any vampires," Sophie scoffed, "they're the Originals."

"You don't need to tell me that," she sighed, rolling her eyes, "I know them better than most, and I also know that you can't control an Original. Anyone who tries winds up dead; Klaus is going to kill all of you," she looked around the room, eyes focusing on Sophie, "you're the only one Elijah will step into spare, and he's only gonna do that until he gets a witch to unbind you from Hayley."

"He's not going to harm any of us," Sophie crossed her arms, lifting her chin, "because if he does I'll kill her."

Hayley's eyes narrowed into a glare. She gritted her teeth and got to her feet. "You'd better pray I'm never unbound from you because if I am the first thing I'll do is kill you myself."

"You're witches," Elena straightened up. She took Hayley's shoulder and pushed her back down onto her bench. "Why not just use magic to take care of Marcel? You can't use magic, but what's really stopping you?"

She resumed her slow walk around the chamber, counting as she went: Sophie, Agnes, two witches she had yet to be introduced to, and Sabine the tour guide.

"You're powerful witches reduced to nothing by a vampire," she grasped her wrists behind her back. "What would happen if one of you used magic right now?"

Agnes exchanged a look with Sophie and Sabine, but nobody moved to answer her question.

"I have this theory," she smirked. "Would you like to hear it?" Elena came to a stop between Sophie and Hayley.

The witches exchanged a nervous look causing Elena's smirk to grow.

"I think I could attack you all right now, and nobody would dare stop me."

"If you do that, I'll kill her," Sophie swallowed.

"You say that like I'm supposed to care," she sighed. "Let me lay this out for you, 'kay? I'm a vampire without emotions, so I don't care about anything or anyone."

"You're protecting her," Agnes glanced at Hayley.

"I'm standing in a crypt because I have nothing better to do," she rolled her eyes, "but I just spent weeks being tortured by my ex-boyfriend, and his brother – who also happens to be an ex-boyfriend – and I find myself famished."

In the blink of an eye she moved, flashes of wind accompanied horrified screams and dying breaths. When the final body hit the stone floor she wiped a drop of blood from her chin and stepped into the adjoining room, sucking the warm blood from her thumb.

Her brows furrowed under the wide eyes staring at her.

"What?" She popped her thumb from her mouth. "I was hungry."

"Nothing," Hayley cleared her throat and gripped the edges of the bench she had been deposited on. She had been moved from one room to the other in a blur of earth tones, and she hadn't quite regained feeling in all of her limbs yet.

Hayley lifted her right hand and raked her hair behind her ear. Her dark eyes flitted to the left where Sophie on the stone floor; a dark scarf had been used to bind her wrists together.

"Now," Elena crouched down until she was on a level with Sophie and stared into the witch's defiant gaze, "why don't you be a dear and unbind yourself from Hayley?"

"Seeing as it's the only thing keeping me alive I don't think I will," Sophie swallowed. Her heart-beat sped up, but she maintained eye-contact with Elena.

"Very well," Elena nodded, "I asked nicely."

She straightened up and yanked Sophie to her feet. Turning slightly she cocked an eyebrow and offered a hand to Hayley.

"Are you coming?"

* * *

"Why did you do it?"

"I told you," she pulled the stolen car over to the side of the road and parked, twisting to face Hayley and tilting her head, "I was hungry."

"But you saved me," Hayley glanced into the backseat where Sophie sat with her wrists tied together.

"Nothing better to do," she shrugged, staring out at the road. It led out of New Orleans and away from the witches and vampires.

"Didn't Klaus use you in his sacrifice? You know the one that made it possible for this?" She waved at her flat stomach. "His sister killed you, so you obviously didn't save me because of him. He'd be a reason for you to kill me, probably with a grin on your face."

"I'd have to be angry to seek any type of vengeance," Elena drummed the steering wheel with her fingers. "And as we've established: I don't feel anything, and I have no intention of feeling anything ever again."

"Why not?" Sophie shifted on the seat.

"Did I ask for comments from the peanut gallery?" Elena glared into the rear view mirror.

"I'm just trying to understand you?" Sophie tugged on her wrists causing Hayley to gasp.

"None of that now," Elena scolded. "And I'm not about to tell you my life story."

"It's not like you care," Sophie placed her hands in her lap. "All I'm asking is to know why. Why did you turn it off in the first place? You're obviously still new to this life, so what could have happened that made you shut it off."

Elena glanced out at the road, watching for approaching headlights. She stared at the pavement and relented.

"I didn't make the choice to turn it off," she lifted her chin. "My ex-boyfriend used his sire bond to make me."

"If it wasn't your choice then turn it back on," Sophie inhaled slowly.

"If I do, how long before the sire bond makes itself apparent again?" She twisted to stare at the witch. "How long before my will isn't my own?"

Sophie's breath caught in her throat. She exhaled slowly.

"Sire bonds are tied to emotions," Sophie cocked an eyebrow. "Would you still have feelings for this guy after what he's done to you? Because if you could I think you could benefit from some serious therapy."

"If I could feel anything towards him it would be rage," Elena rolled her eyes.

"So you don't have to be afraid of the sire bond…"

"I'm not afraid of anything," Elena twisted around to watch the road again.

"Not very smart of you," Hayley played with the seatbelt.

"I've got a sense of self-preservation Hayley; I'm just not afraid of the things that could kill me," Elena murmured. She turned off the car and stepped out when headlights appeared around the corner.

A tall woman stepped from the other car and whisked her long brown hair behind her ear. Her red hair gleamed in the breaking light of day.

Elena smiled. Her glittering eyes turned to the blonde stepping from the driver's side of the car. "Rebekah," she greeted.

"What do you want?" Rebekah snapped. "Why did I drive six hours to meet you and pick up a witch along the way?"

"Didn't Elijah call you?" She cocked an eyebrow.

"He didn't mention you were with him," the blonde rolled her eyes.

"Technically I'm not," Elena leaned against the car, "and as far as I'm aware he has no idea where I am."

"You didn't tell him you were leaving?" Rebekah frowned.

"Didn't have his number," she shrugged, "and leaving a note seemed like a bad idea. A witch bold enough to use magic might have found it before he did."

"You had my number," she crossed the road. "This is Sadie, by the way."

"It seems I memorized it while we were running around," Elena yanked open the back door, tugging Sophie from the vehicle, "I also know Caroline, Stefan and Damon off the top of my head, but I wasn't about to call any of them."

She turned her hard gaze on Sadie and tilted her head as the passenger side door opened. "I need you to perform a little unlinking spell."

Twenty minutes later Rebekah lounged against a maple tree next to Elena and watched the kneeling trio of women. The wind picked up, blocking out the words from the spell. She glanced at Elena from the corner of her eye.

"Still no emotions then?" She twisted her daylight ring around her finger.

"Nope," she popped the 'p'. "Are you going to tell me I should turn it back on?"

"No," Rebekah shook her head and listened to Elena's steady breathing. "I think I finally get you."

"Oh?" A flicker of amusement flashed in her eyes.

"Yes," she chuckled without real humour. "It's hard for you. You lost your parents at sixteen, your aunt at seventeen and your guardian at eighteen. You've lost your human life – thanks to me – and recently you've lost your brother. It's been nothing but death for years, only pain and loss, but…" she turned to meet Elena's eyes, "… that pain is a part of living. It's how you know you're alive."

"I know I'm alive because my heart is beating," Elena broke eye contact to watch Sadie's spell.

"Why won't you turn it back on? Really? You never would have made the choice to turn it off on your own." Rebekah watched Elena's expression.

"You're right, but Damon abusing the sire bond again was the best thing that ever happened to me. There's no more pain Rebekah, and no more grief," she ran her tongue over her teeth, "and no more guilt. I'm finally free."

"What could the saintly Elena Gilbert ever feel guilty about?" A line appeared between Rebekah's brows.

"Nothing now," she smirked.

"Elena," Rebekah sighed, "please…"

"That's my business," she dropped her eyes to her hands.

"Are you afraid to tell me?" Rebekah smirked. "Are you afraid that if you say it out loud you'll feel it again?"

A tiny chip picked away at the mortar holding up her brick wall.

"I could always compel you to tell me," Rebekah cocked an eyebrow.

"That would be rude," Elena rolled her neck, setting her eyes on the blonde.

"But efficient," she pointed out. She crossed her arms, fixing Elena with an expectant stare until the brunette sighed.

"… I blew off family game night," she turned her distant gaze towards Hayley as she answered each death with her involvement. "I couldn't save Jenna. Ric died because I did. Everyone I loved died because of me. She straightened her spine and glanced at Rebekah, but she couldn't keep looking at the blonde as she spoke. "I daggered you. I lured your brother into a trap that killed him and hundreds of vampires; they all died for a cure. J…" her voice cracked and she felt Rebekah's sharp gaze. She cleared her throat, steeling her resolve. "Jeremy died trying to get a cure for me."

She took a deep breath and shoved the crumbling bricks back in place.

Rebekah allowed her to gather her nerves in silence for a moment before clearing her throat. "Did you really feel guilty about daggering me and killing Kol?"

"I did," Elena straightened her spine. She cast her eyes to Hayley as the wind died down. "I don't anymore."

"Because you don't feel anything," Rebekah nodded. "Riddle me this, Elena: if you don't care why did you save this girl and her baby?"

"Who says I did?" She drawled.

"You slaughtered every witch holding her captive except for the one linked to her," Rebekah tilted her head. She arched a thin brow when Hayley approached them with a disgruntled Sophie in tow. "Is it done?" She turned to Sadie.

The redhead took a pocket knife from her handbag and drew a thin line over the soft skin of Sophie's wrist. Everyone watched Hayley's arm for signs of blood.

Hayley's eyes narrowed.

"This will take you wherever you want to go," Rebekah nodded and pulled a pre-paid ticket from her purse.

"You can take the car," Elena held out a set of keys. "It's stolen though, so I'd recommend parking away from airport security."

"Thanks," Sadie frowned.

Rebekah watched her witch contact slide into the car and drive off before turning to Elena.

"What are you planning on doing?"

"I sort of left Elijah in the lurch, so I thought I'd go back and explain," she shrugged.

"Are you going to answer my other question?"

"Which one?" Elena followed her back to red convertible.

"About the werewolf my brother knocked up," she nodded to Hayley.

"I have a name you know."

"Don't care right now," Rebekah opened the car door.

Elena held the door for Hayley who slid into the backseat. Rebekah repeated her earlier question.

"I'd kind of like to know too," Hayley fastened her seatbelt.

"Do you still want her dead?" Elena turned sharply to where Sophie was attempting to staunch the flow of blood.

"Not as much as I want to get out of here," Hayley sighed. Her eyelids drooped heavily; all she wanted to do was sleep for a while. She hadn't slept right since being taken by the witches. She forced her eyes open to focus on Elena.

Rebekah turned over the engine and took off down the road.

"Why did you do it?" Hayley breathed. "Why'd you help me, Elena?"

"Because I owed Elijah a favor," she shrugged.

"Favors only count for something when you care about them," Rebekah glanced at her, accelerating the car, "or the person you feel you owe one too."

Elena glanced at the blonde in the driver's seat.

"Shut up and drive."

* * *

"How the bloody hell did you manage to lose her," Klaus growled. He had repeated the same angry words every hour or so for the last nine hours.

"I thought you didn't care," Elijah rolled his eyes. He pressed his phone to his ear and waited for the call to connect.

Finding a witch to run a locator spell had proven tricky for several reasons. The witches of New Orleans couldn't practice magic, and they had nothing of Hayley's to use. Elena had disposed of the clothes she had been wearing so there was nothing of hers to use either and Bonnie Bennett had proven less than helpful in running a locator spell for him; mainly because she had failed to answer his calls until an hour before. He had been forced instead to call a witch and meet him halfway with a vial of Klaus' blood.

"I don't know why you're bothering with Elena Gilbert of all people," Klaus grumbled. He pulled his cell phone from his pocket when it vibrated with a location. "That can't be right."

"Why not?" Elijah held out his hand for the phone. He frowned down at the text message. "But that's…"

"Less than a quarter mile away."

Tires crunched over gravel outside the house. They ran onto the porch in time to see Rebekah climbing out of her car; she fixed them with an exasperated stare.

"You two are so predictable," she turned her head around to look at the old plantation.

Elijah felt his eyes drawn back to the car as a slim brunette stepped out and crossed her arms. She cocked an eyebrow and met his eyes, sparing Klaus a quick glance.

"Well," she tilted her head when neither of them moved. "Is someone going to collect sleeping beauty?" She opened the back door revealing a sleeping werewolf. "Poor girl's worn right out."

"I'll get her," Rebekah shook her head. She reached into the backseat and picked up Hayley, carrying her inside between her gaping brothers.

Elena shut the car door as Klaus followed Rebekah inside the house. Elijah appeared in front of her before she could move, trapping her against his sister's car.

Her heart thumped. She tilted her head up and met his searching eyes.

"Did you kill four witches last night?" His breath fanned over her chin.

"I was hungry," she tilted her head. "I would have gone for five, but at that point I was starting to feel full, and there was that pesky little linking spell."

"Hayley?" His fingers reached out and traced her collar; tiny spatters of blood stained the V-neck.

"She's fine and unbound," Elena dropped her eyes to his fingers ghosting over her neckline. Her skin hummed under the touch. "Can't speak for the baby, though; I'd recommend finding an OBGYN."

"You'll regret those actions," he tipped her chin up.

"Helping her?" She cocked an eyebrow.

"Killing those witches," he murmured. Something passed behind her eyes before she hid it again.

"We'll see," she drew in a deep breath. "I don't suppose that offer to stay still stands."

"Always," his voice emerged in a whisper.

"Great," she cleared her throat, stepping around him, "because I'm exhausted." She moved towards the house, pausing on the steps when he called out.

"Elena," her name rolled off his tongue in the way only he had even been able to manage, "thank you."

"For what?" She glanced back over her shoulder, meeting his dark eyes. The sudden amusement flowed through her.

"For having nothing better to do," he smirked.

Warmth bloomed in her chest. She turned away before he could see it and stamped the rising tide back down, aided by the darkened interior of the sprawling mansion. Every step away from him gave her time to push away everything his presence made her want to feel and build up her walls, reinforcing them with extra bricks and mortar, but she found those tiny cracks were difficult to plug back up.

At the top of the stairs she paused and resisted the urge to look back over her shoulder to where she sensed his watching eyes, but she didn't have to turn around; the pause was revealing enough.

She followed her ears away until she was far from everyone, but her solitude was destined for interruption.

"Elijah," she sighed.

"Elena," he leaned in the open door, surveying the guest room she had selected.

"Did you want something? Because I meant what I said," she gazed at the comfortable looking bed with its mound of pillows. "I am exhausted."

"I just wanted to give you this." He reached into his pocket and held out his hand. He dropped the silver ring in her open palm and moved to leave, but stopped upon catching the look on her face.

Her eyes locked on the lump of silver and blue. The protection charm had saved his life more times than she could count until the one time it couldn't because stupid Emily Bennett has spelled them to only work for human beings and he wasn't one anymore. He had become a hunter for her. He had died trying to find the cure for her.

A lump formed in the back of her throat and she found she wanted to throw the ring as far as she could and never look at it again because it had failed him.

"Elena?" Elijah took a small step forward when he spotted the telltale shimmer of moisture in her dark eyes.

She tried to blink away the tears but the moment the first one fell the brick wall she had constructed convulsed. It collapsed inwards taking the switch with it. The emotions bombarded her all at once until she couldn't breathe beneath the anger, guilt and grief.

Her legs collapsed but her body didn't hit the floor; strong arms caught her on the way down and eased her down on the mattress across the room. It took her a long time to feel the fingers on her chin and hear the voice telling her to focus on a single emotion at a time, compelling her to focus on one of her emotion at a time.

Her fingers curled around the ring until the metal cut into her palm. She closed her eyes as her body shook with sobs and the hand moved from her chin to the back of her neck, guiding her head to his chest. She cried and gasped, sucking in heaving breaths and not bothering to stop when a second body came to a stop in the door.

"What the bloody hell did you do to her?" Rebekah snapped at her brother.

"I returned her brother's ring," he rubbed Elena's back.

"It looks like you broke her," she crossed her arms. "Shame, I liked no-humanity Elena; she was fun… and daring. How many witches did she kill last night?"

Her sobs renewed.

"Rebekah," his voice held a note of warning.

"It was just a joke," she held out her hands.

"A rather ill-advised one," he listened to her erratic heartbeat.

"I'll make it up to you," she swore.

He cocked an eyebrow and she smirked answering the unasked question.

"You take care of the weeping doppelganger, and I'll keep Nik away from her."

* * *

**Leave a comment and let me know what you thought of this little story that I've had sitting around forever.**

**Will Rebekah and Elena become friends? Will Klaus accept impending daddyhood? Will Elena and Elijah start something? Will Celeste possess another witch and seek vengeance on her growing list of murderers? Will Kol and Finn find a way back from the Other Side?**


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